Chapter 25 🔊✎
“People get on board the express trains,” said the little prince, “but they don’t know what they’re looking for. 🔊✎ They feel worried and they go back and forward…” And he added:
“It’s not worth all that trouble…” 🔊✎
The well we had discovered wasn’t like the usual wells in the Sahara. 🔊✎ Normally they are simple holes dug in the ground. 🔊✎ This one looked like a well in a village. But there was no village, and I wondered if I was dreaming. 🔊✎
“It’s so strange,” I said, “everything’s ready: the pulley, the bucket, the rope…”
He laughed, took hold of the rope, started the pulley turning. 🔊✎ It groaned the way an old weather-vane does when the wind finally changes after a long time.
“Listen,” said the little prince, “we’ve woken up the pulley and it’s singing…” 🔊✎
I didn’t want him to overexert himself. 🔊✎
“Let me do it,” I said, “it’s too heavy for you.” 🔊✎
Slowly I pulled the bucket up to the well’s rim. I let it rest there securely. 🔊✎ I could still hear the song of the pulley in my ears. 🔊✎ The surface of the water was trembling, and in it I could see the sun trembling too. 🔊✎
“I was thirsty for this water,” said the little prince, “give me some to drink…” 🔊✎
And I understood what he had been looking for! 🔊✎
I lifted the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. 🔊✎ It felt like a sweet celebration. 🔊✎ This water was far more than an ordinary drink. It carried the memory of the walk under the stars, the pulley’s song, the strength of my arms. 🔊✎ It made my heart feel good, like a present. When I was a small boy, the lights in the Christmas tree, the choir at Midnight Mass, the smiles I was surrounded by added the same glow to the Christmas present I received.
“People here,” the little prince said, “they plant five thousand roses in the same garden… and they still don’t find what they’re looking for…” 🔊✎
“But they could find it in a single rose or in a mouthful of water…” 🔊✎
“You’re right,” I said. 🔊✎ And the little prince added. 🔊✎
“Your eyes are blind. You need to look with your heart.” 🔊✎ I had finished drinking. I breathed easily. 🔊✎ The sand, at daybreak, is the colour of honey. That colour also made me happy. 🔊✎ So why did I feel this sadness… 🔊✎
“You need to keep your promise,” the little prince said softly. He had once again sat down next to me. 🔊✎
“You know… a muzzle for the sheep… I am responsible for my flower!” 🔊✎
I took my sketches out of my pocket. The little prince looked at them and laughed. 🔊✎
“Your baobabs look like cabbages!” 🔊✎
“Hey!” 🔊✎
I had been so proud of my baobabs! 🔊✎
“And your fox… his ears… they look more like horns… they’re way too long!” 🔊✎
“You’re not being fair, kid,” I said. “I didn’t know how to draw anything except for boa constrictors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside.” 🔊✎
“Oh, don’t worry,” he said. “Children will get it.” 🔊✎
I drew him a muzzle, but my heart felt all knotted up as I gave it to him. 🔊✎
“You’re planning something, and I don’t know what it is…”
He didn’t reply directly. 🔊✎ He said:
“You know, when I fell to Earth… tomorrow, it will be exactly a year since then…” 🔊✎
After another silence, he added:
Again, without knowing why, I felt a strange sadness. 🔊✎ But another question occurred to me: 🔊✎
“So it wasn’t just chance, that morning eight days ago when I first met you, that you were walking like that all on your own, a thousand miles from anywhere people live! You were coming back to the place where you fell?” 🔊✎
The little prince blushed again. 🔊✎
I hesitated, but then I went on:
“It’s something to do with it being just a year ago, right?” 🔊✎
The little prince blushed again. He never answered any questions, but when you blush, doesn’t it usually mean ‘yes’? 🔊✎
“Ah!” I said, “now I’m frightened…” 🔊✎
“You need to work now. Go back to your plane. 🔊✎ I’ll wait here. Come and see me tomorrow evening…” 🔊✎
I didn’t feel the least reassured. 🔊✎ I remembered the fox. When you’ve let yourself be tamed, you know you’ll end up crying… 🔊✎